Senior Platform Architect - Data Platform Integration & Automation (m/f/d)

It's more than a job

In this IT role, you will manage, develop, and support the technology infrastructure that powers Kuehne+Nagel’s global systems and operations. This contribution is vital to making both special and ordinary moments in the lives of people a reality. In fact, your work enables our teams to deliver fresh fruit, time-sensitive healthcare products and much more to people all around the world. Working in IT at Kuehne+Nagel contributes to more than we imagine.

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As a Senior Platform Architect - Data Platform Integration & Automation (m/f/d), you will define and evolve the backend and integration architecture of our Data Platform, covering APIs, CLI/GitOps workflows, automation engines, and metadata services. Partnering with Product leadership and engineering teams, you will translate platform strategy into scalable, automated, and self-service capabilities that simplify cloud infrastructure, data technologies, and governance. Combining hands-on technical expertise with architectural leadership, you will guide engineering teams, establish best practices for APIs, testing, and releases, ensure seamless platform integrations, and shape how AI agents and LLM-based tools unlock new opportunities for Kuehne+Nagel’s business and customers.

## How you create impact

- Define the target architecture for the platform’s backend and integration layer (APIs, CLI/GitOps, automation engine, and metadata services), co-owning the technical roadmap with Product leadership.
- Design API and service contracts, integration patterns, and event-driven architectures to enable consistent, versioned, and self-service platform capabilities.
- Establish GitOps as the default operating model, replacing ticket-based processes with automated, declarative workflows.
- Shape the architecture of the metadata and data product management ecosystem (e.g. Data Mesh Manager, OpenMetadata, LeanIX), including the data contracts connecting these services.
- Champion end-to-end and integrated testing as core engineering practices, enabling faster and safer delivery through robust CI/CD and rolling releases.
- Define how platform and data product capabilities are exposed to AI agents and LLM-based tools through MCP servers, ensuring appropriate authentication and governance.
- Drive architectural alignment and knowledge sharing through ADRs, reference architectures, reusable patterns, critical design reviews, and technical mentoring, collaborating with Platform, Enterprise Architecture, and Security teams.
- Proactively identify architectural risks, dependencies, and technical debt, defining pragmatic strategies to simplify, modernize, and evolve the platform.

## What we would like you to bring

- Extensive software engineering experience, including architecture or technical leadership roles in platform engineering or distributed systems.
- Strong understanding of data engineering, including data pipelines, data warehousing, and data governance, with knowledge of Data Mesh concepts such as Data as a Product, data contracts, and federated governance.
- Expertise in backend and API design (REST, event-driven architectures), supported by hands-on programming skills (preferably Python) for prototyping, code reviews, and technical validation.
- Proven experience designing internal developer platforms and self-service capabilities as products, with a strong focus on developer experience and abstraction of complexity.
- Solid experience with GitOps, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, automation at scale, and modern testing and release practices (integration, contract, and end-to-end testing).
- Experience with AWS cloud architecture, including identity and security considerations; familiarity with Kubernetes and container-based workloads.
- Knowledge of metadata and data catalog platforms (e.g. OpenMetadata, Data Mesh Manager, LeanIX), Snowflake, Apache Kafka, and exposure to MCP, LLM integrations, or AI-enabled developer tooling.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical direction without formal authority and align technical and non-technical stakeholders; fluency in written and spoken English.

## What's in it for you

Your work has a direct impact on the future of logistics and IT. Your team is made up of experts who are shaping the IT industry in Portugal and around the world. We want you to feel comfortable in our working environment, where you will be dealing with different cultures. That is why we offer flexible working hours and the opportunity to work remotely. We value teamwork, continuous learning and diversity. Kuehne+Nagel offers you a tailor-made career with individual planning and team leaders who will support you in every way. On a personal level, we support you with a wide range of work-life balance options, supplementary health insurance and our EAP - Employee Assistant Program.

Who we are

Logistics shapes everyday life - from the goods we consume to the healthcare we rely on. At Kuehne+Nagel, your work goes beyond logistics; it enables both ordinary and special moments in the lives of people around the world.

As a global leader with a strong heritage and a vision to move the world forward, we offer a safe, stable environment where your career can make a real difference. Whether we help deliver life-saving medicines, develop sustainable transportation solutions or support our local communities, your career will contribute to more than you can imagine.

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